i use to think i was good at stealth

[AldrickExGladius™]

And then i got this game. i started playing on Hard difficulty. sucked. went to Norm difficulty. AND STILL SUCK lol
is it just me? is this game that difficult? ive honestly never played any of the Sniper Elite games before. So if any of you good people have any tips, it would be great.

[YEE.T.]

Don’t worry, I love stealth games and whenever I can, I always choose to play games stealthily. But I cannot play sniper elite like that. I use the welrod for close stealth kills whenever I can but it’s just tricky. Sometimes you can’t cross without a person 100 meters away from you seeing you, or sometimes the game acts weird and you miss your 15 meter welrod shot and, well, everything just goes downhill really fast. I play stealthily as much as I can but I get frustrated often. I’m sure that there is a way to do a mission completely without being seen or heard but let’s be honest who has time and the patience for that. There are sounds that mask the noise of your shots but the intervals are way too big.

In my opinion though, it gets frustrating and annoying, yes, but not enough for me to actually be angry so I enjoy just quick scoping everyone running to my position once in a while if I mess up with the stealth lol. So my advice for you would be not to try to be 100 % stealthy, it would take too long and you would probably get bored pretty fast. If the enemies are close, you can take them out with a nice headshot with the welrod or a melee, if they are far and there is something masking your noise then you can for sure take advantage of that. Just don’t try to be too stealthy, blow your steam off too once in a while and just murder everyone in sight with your rifle. Whatever you choose to do in the end, just make sure you’re having fun. :)

[Tommy_Rebellion]

Some great advice! I would advise lowering the difficulty level to start with. Get a feel for the mechanics and maps first, then increase the difficulty levels when your comfortable with your set-up.

[Jet City Gambler]

When you first start it can be frustrating because you haven't upgraded your rifle or unlocked some of the cooler stuff like silenced ammo. You really need to take advantage of sound masking -- kick the generator to make it start sputtering and then time your shots to take out a whole platoon of enemies one by one. Tag them with your binoculars first then drop them when they're out of sight of their squadmates.

Even if they do get alerted they won't get a bead on you if you take long shots (100+ m), you can just relocate to a different position and wait for the alarm to subside.

When you get up close and personal I rarely bother with the silenced pistol, you're better off distracting guards with thrown rocks or whistling to attract them when you hiding in the shrubs and then gut them with your knife. With a little practice you can go through an entire level without raising anyone's suspicions.

[AldrickExGladius™]

thanks guys, im not gonna be giving up. i love the game even though i suck lmfao

[Andyteroo]

Take your time and wait, then go for the kill, my first stealth-ish run took me 2:30 hs. I know it's a lot, but i like taking my time by playing chill.

[MrMurLock]

Play methodically, find the high ground and tag everything that moves.
Find sound masking props such as generators and exploit them.
Crouch / crawl to lower your profile, use shrubs and tall grass to hide from long range view.
Use environmental hazards such as falling pallets and fuel tanks to take down groups.
If you HAVE to start sniping without silencers or masks, set up traps. Trip wires, mines and even controlled explosives work wonders against charging enemies!
IF all else fails, find a choke point with cover.

[HiTmAn]

i play sniper elite games only on hardest mode cz u cant just breeze trough levels.u must learn each part how to do it..silent pistol is exellent..at max range of 20meters do not try longer shots.. cz dmg drop of and u just can alert guards..observe gaurd patterns and think how u wish to do it...without alerting them take 1 by1

[EmotionallyBroken]

I havent played this one yet, but in 2 they were basically all deaf and near sighted with stormtrooper aim.

I think its more about the strategizing and kill cam aesthetics than the FPS challenge. Its what sets it apart. They could maybe tone down the storm trooper aim though to at least half ass beginner level aim instead of stormtrooper aim.

[Reaper]

Try the DLC suppressed rifle. Delise carbine. every shot is suppresed, use DLC camoflague skins. I I go all black, night maps, start on easy, learn the maps, then move up to normal, hard. also put melee on an easy control button, mine is the middle mouse button, very close. good luck.

[TheShadow]

Originally posted by Rebellion:

Some great advice! I would advise lowering the difficulty level to start with. Get a feel for the mechanics and maps first, then increase the difficulty levels when your comfortable with your set-up.

Yep...good advice. I start EVERY game on the lowest setting and then advance to the next level each time I play until I reach a level I can play without getting killed EVERY TIME I MOVE.

[Sasparillafizz]

I enjoy authentic and authentic plus so my advice is more generalized behavior rather than specifics; since at that difficulty it's going to largely be a matter of having a feel for your rifle of choice and what shots you can and can't make.

--1: As far as stealth goes it's best to treat it as any 'silenced' weapons as merely being 'quiet' weapons. At higher difficulties they DO indeed make sound, it's just not audible too far away. But if your picking off 2 guards nearby even if the guard was facing away from his partner he may still hear the gunshot and turn.

--2: Line of sight is everything. A lot of stealth games treat visibility as though if your not practically in their face than the slightest shadow will make you invisible. This is NOT the case in sniper elite. I suggest trying a low difficulty at least once just to see the mini-map. You will see a white circle around your character- that's your visibility. Anything inside that circle will see you.

And if you are standing up that range of visibility is CRAZY big. Like they will see you 100+m away if you are standing. If you are in a source of light such as sunlight or a street light that radius is even larger; so always keep to shadows whenever possible. If you are kneeling you can probably get closer to the 40m range but they will still see you the equivalent of a long alleyway away. And if your prone they will have to get fairly close, 20m and thus pistol range, but they are not going to have to practically trip over you like most stealth games.

So line of sight is super important since they can spot you from so far away. You absolutely want to make the most of walls, flowerbeds etc to keep SOMETHING between them and you till your close enough to shoot them with a pistol. Stay away from open spaces and hug walls, and proceed carefully because many guards have long patrol routes so you can watch a place for over a minute and not see a guard but there will be one meandering along behind you some time later. They don't all patrol within a nice easy to watch 50m radius.

--3: In addition to sight is of course sound. In general, IF all the guards are relaxed, you can get 1 gunshot without revealing your position. If the guards are alert, i.e. they know someone is there but they don't know where, so they are searching aimlessly or hiding, then any gunshot they hear will immediately alert them to your exact position. You can use this to eliminate just 1 critical guard blocking your way if you have no way forward without being spotted, but you better make that 1 hit count because you won't be able to do a followup without giving your position away.

--Dealing with enemies:

--1: Helmets largely block head shots. I say largely because I've seen it go both ways; sometimes shooting their helmet will trigger a kill Xray, sometimes it'll glance off and make the guy stumble but he survives. It almost always blocks pistol shots though. So your best bet is try to aim for the neck or the face. This can be dangerous with the pistol since it's such a close range weapon, if your within the pistols effective shooting range than you are absolutely close enough for them to see you, so having them face you is a double edged sword. But it's a risk you'll have to take if you want to ensure that kill shot - especially with tougher opponents like heavily armored jegars. Which brings my to 2.

--2: Bait is your friend. It's largely better to lure a unsuspecting guard to a position you hold advantage than to move closer to them. However guards aren't entirely stupid, and will bring backup whenever possible. So if there is another guard nearby one will stay back in over watch while the other investigates. This can complicate silent killings because if you kill the one checking out that stone the guard 30m back will see it and sound the alarm. But isolated patrols and the like it's often best to hide in a bush and lure him over to you till he's close enough to shoot in the face than it is to try and sneak closer. This doubles with the advantage of being able to control the direction they will ultimately face. If you want to line up a face shot put a rock right between you and them. If you want to creep up on them throw it to the side so their back will be facing you.

3: Keep moving. The AI has a large advantage on you since they are all packing full auto weapons and you have comparatively little health. You do not want to get in firefights. If your position is compromised then duck and run away to another spot. As long as they don't see you leave they will continue to attack the last spot they saw you at. So back off, go run around a wall or down a hallway or up a road to attack from the other side. It's much easier fighting many opponents when you zip around between 3 spots than holding your ground at one.

--- Long range shooting.

This is one of the most challenging aspects on higher difficulties thanks to both wind and bullet drop. How much these will affect your shot depends on a number of things - muzzle velocity, your stance, your heartbeat, etc. Guns with higher muzzle velocity are more resistant to wind and bullet drop throwing them off, though usually to a sacrifice in other areas. Largely though you'll want to find 1 rifle that suits your play style and STICK with it, so you have a feel for just how far you need to compensate for wind in particular. A spring field and a Mosin firing at the same target with the same zeroing will not hit the same spot, so trading rifles can throw off your instinctual aim.

This isn't a problem if your playing with the HUD enabled since you can just hold your breath and sniping at 400m becomes a point and click adventure.

If I have a good sniping point near a generator or other noise source I like to fire a test shot at a target near what I'm aiming at. Maybe an off colored brick on a wall or something. Then line your sight with that spot again and see how it relates to the bullet hole it made. With that I can see exactly how far off the wind is going to throw my aim and can compensate for the rest of my shots.

---- Traps.

1- The AI may not have great survival instincts but they aren't stupid either. If you stay in a position too long, such as a prolonged firefight, they WILL try to flank you. And it's not even always obvious, they can take surprisingly long and circuitous routes to get behind you. So you always want to be setting up traps before moving in for the deck clearing. Cover ALL the doors and entrances, not just the ones closest to you. Like I said they won't go charging in the nearest way, the AI will totally go to the far side of the building even if it means going the long way around, then working their way to you through the interior of the building. Same with stairwells to come at you from above or below to get behind you. More than a few of my deaths have been from being machinegunned in the back from a place I didn't think the AI would come from.

2- It can also be beneficial to set traps ahead of time where the AI will be. Stick an SMine in a flower bed, run a trip mine perpendicular to a waist high wall. When the enemy hears your gunshot and rushes for cover they'll run straight into traps, clearing a handful out of the way for you and denying them some of the better places to take cover.

3- Alternate modes for traps can also be useful. Broad stroke advice I suggest using the traps with 2 second delays for alert (but not attacking) status- enemies are more prone to moving at a slower pace and packed tightly together. That means rather than kill 1 in the doorway you may kill him and the guy following him with a delay.

This is less likely to work if they are actually in attacking mode however, as the AI is more likely to keeping enemies spaced apart and covering from a distance, as well as sprinting to objectives meaning he may not be in range of that trap if you wait 2 seconds.


Another fun bit is that the AI freaks when you chuck explosives at them. Obviously grenades they will try to jump away. But did you know that they duck and cover when you throw timed TNT? They won't even try to move out of the blast radius, they will just sit there for a full 5 seconds+ cowering. If your outnumbered badly it can be very beneficial to just chuck a timed TNT charge at their feet. Anyone in range of the blast when it hits the ground is all but guaranteed to just sit there until it kills them. I have no idea why since they do the exact opposite behavior if you throw a grenade at them but it's saved my life a few times.

----Vehicles
This was probably my biggest challenge early on, I had no idea how to properly deal with armored vehicles. So I'll share their weak point for you.

From armored cars to tanks, they CAN all be dealt with using a rifle. Obviously a Panzerfaust or TNT is preferable, but that's not always an option. To kill one with a rifle you have to aim at 2 places- The driver slot and the gunner slot and always in that order.

The driver is only killable from the front of the tank. There will be a horizontal slot in the front that if you shoot will kill the driver. Now that will disable the vehicle, but it can still shoot in that state. So why do you kill the driver first? Because the gunner is invulnerable until the driver is dead.

The gunner turret has a vertical slot just beside the big barrel. This slot stays closed while the driver is in control of the vehicle however, so there's no way to disable the gun without killing the driver first. Once he's dead it will slide open, and a shot anywhere inside of that vertical slit will count as a head shot.

Many tanks also have a third person controlling a machine gun mounted to the front of the vehicle. I don't know of any way to kill them, just keep your distance and run around to the back of the tank to plant a satchel charge. Since the tank is disabled it can't turn to face you and can only shoot what passes directly in front of it.

[Captain Black]

^ Not too shabby. You should note that generally speaking, the ai will triangulate on 3 shots heard. Proximity affects this, but unless one is in the habit of engaging at with rifle fire at well under 100m, 2 shots is usually fine.

I like your practical use of TNT, however, you may find that (sticky) grenades, being more plentiful and easier to wield. Should prove a more useful go to in emergencies.

To beginners at stealth.. Don't be too worried about yellow alerts or hiding every corpse, though it's obviously going to be prudent to stash one or two, out of the road. Every now and again.

On the subject of corpses. They can be a good quick delivery method for explosives and you don't to be precise when placing them, especially useful for vehicles. Essentially it turns static explosives into proximity mines, which in the case of patrols? Also act as a lure.

[AldrickExGladius™]

thanks for all the advice guys!

[Sasparillafizz]

Originally posted by AldrickExGladius:

thanks for all the advice guys!

Ah, one last bit to add on to bodies and baiting. As I said earlier AI arent totally stupid, if there is another guard nearby he will stay back on alert and watch while the first one does the investigation. And even if you kill that first guard where the second doesn't see it, he will still call the alarm when the first guard doesn't come back after a while. While this can make it more challenging to silently kill everyone one at a time, you can use it to your advantage if you want to play more aggressively.

And example from a game I had earlier. I was on Lorino Dockyard and had a checkpoint with a half dozen guards in fairly close proximity.

So I tossed a rock into a flowerbed near the edge of the furthest guard from the others. The guard called out to a nearby guard asking if he heard that, and guard 2 stood and faced the flowerbed while guard 1 investigated.

The flowerbed was out of the watching guards line of sight so I killed the first guard without being spotted, leaving the second guard on alert but not panicking because his buddy got offed. I threw the body into the flower bed, placed a 2 second delay mine on the body and left.

After a time guard 2 noticed hadn't returned and called all the other nearby guards to investigate the spot guard 1 was heading towards. Now 4 guards rushed over to the dead body. Because the body was in the bushes it wasn't spotted immediately, and all the guards started roaming the flower patch, resulting in a 4 man kill via S-mine; and my position has still not been identified.

If the body had been out in the open the guards would have seen it and the closest one rushing forward immediately while the others were still catching up, likely getting only a single kill. But by hiding the body they only investigate the same spot guard 1 was investigating, meaning they had time to bunch up before one stumbled on the body and triggered the mine.

If you don't have any mines you can just hide in a adjacent area and once all of them are bunched up looking for a body you can go for a grenade in belt shot while they're all standing still, or just mow them down with your secondary weapon.

That's just an example of alternative ways to use your gear in a aggressive fashion. Traps are obviously your best choice for guarding your blind side while sniping but can definitely be used in a offensive way or baiting traps to lure guards to investigate.

I like using trip mine + teller mine combos for patrolling vehicles for example. Teller mines are small so vehicles have a good chance of driving over it without setting it off, but place a trip mine the length of the road next to it and the are certain to detonate that, which will set off the more damaging teller mine or TNT in turn. You'll likely cripple the vehicle and any passengers in the back if not outright blowing it up.

[Gregory]

SE 3 is better in the stealth department for one reason.The vanishing mechanic.You were to get away from your last known position or "shot heard" position and the game was doing it well.Here you get a red triangle, it doesn't matter how far you run without being seen.They still stay on red alert.Game just doesn't let you know that you're no longer in any big danger.Also the distraction part.You throw a rock and if one turns yellow, then it's like a virus spreading.Everyone turns yellow around an entire plaza.One last thing to mention.You CANT finish a mission without killing anybody.The game is crafted in a way where sooner or later you will run at a dead end.You will HAVE TO kill somebody and the others next to them WILL see them dying at that moment.It's pathways are narrow and you just can't avoid it.It's not like MGSV where you climb anything you want.Rebelion has to step up their games.


From 1 to 2 there was a massive difference in everything.From 2 to 3 there was also a very big more like sandbox experience.From 3 to 4 there is nothing.Just a different country and the same old Hitler DLC cash grabs since 2, for those who didn't pre-order.